Kicking Ass with The Force... Handheld style

No new comics came in this week for me.... even though I'm still waiting for LocoRoco 2 to come out here in Canada... I spotted a couple of PSP games on sale I couldn't pass up.

Yesterday I bought Wipeout Pulse for $9.96 (score!) and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for $19.96 clearance-priced from The Source. Since they are owned by/somehow affilated with/ Circuit City I have a bad feeling that this could be nearly end for them.... unless the Canadian stores are bought up by someone else. In any case, I know these deals won't last long so may as well grab 'em while I can.

I told myself I wasn't going to buy games that I already have on other systems, but let's face it... I'm a Star Wars freak, and owning 2 PSP-2000's with Darth Vader on the back and not having *every* Star Wars PSP game... that's just wrong. So I had to complete my collection..... yeah.....

haven't played Wipeout Pulse yet, but Wipeout: Pure is one of the best looking PSP games for the system. It's amazing that this was a launch title, it still stands up.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for PSP is very similar to the Wii version. Both were developed by Krome Studios; I'm sure that all their versions are almost the same.

It's actually quite impressive that the PSP version has pretty much the same content as the Wii version, a home console. One could look at it as "geez, the Wii got ripped off if the PSP version looks just as good" but I think the Wii version is great. The motion controls are really fun, and the standard controls of the PSP version are a little more awkward to use. The biggest problem with both versions is the camera, but in the Wii version you can control the camera a bit using the D-pad. The PSP D-pad will center the camera behind you *a bit* but it's not nearly as good as the Wii camera control, and that's not exactly great either.

But as to the actual gameplay content, wow. The PSP version is the Wii version squeezed into a handheld console. Some people might only have a PSP for their sole console... for those concerned the PSP version might not be as good as the Wii one... rest assured. From what I've played so far, the story campaign is virtually the same.

As cool as it is to have a PSP port that's equal to the (Wii) console version, there are some problems that come with that: The loading times are relatively long. Sometimes there's some game freezing.. it doesn't lock up, but in mid-battle things will stop for a second or 3. And the save points are the same: between quits, the game resumes at the start of the level, so if you quit out mid-level, next time you play you have to re-do that entire level. It's tolerable for the home version, but when you're talking about a portable game... the levels are pretty long and have to be completed in one sitting unless you put the PSP in sleep mode while playing, but then you can't use it for music/video/whatever. Home console games aren't paced in a way that makes them portable-console-friendly.

There is a historical dual mode in the PSP version; basically boss fights. The Wii version has multiplayer, but it's multiplayer ONLY while I assume these historical duals can be played single-player. haven't tried it yet, as I complete the story campaign I unlock more characters & settings to use in the dual mode.

So a pretty good beat-em-up for the PSP.


*my thoughts on the Wii version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed*




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